Project implementation: China
Project development: China
Nature Into Building
Tank Shanghai Art Center is located on the banks of Huangpu River in the West Bund area, part of a large-scale project to transform the former industrial zone into a vibrant river-front community.
The specific site for Tank Shanghai was once part of an abandoned airport with decommissioned aviation fuel tanks, which underwent a long and thorough decontamination process before redevelopment.
While carefully preserving the oil tanks and transforming them into different art spaces, OPEN “invited” nature to turn the entire site—once paved in concrete with barely any grass—into an urban park open to all. The Art Center is then seamlessly embedded into this newly created urban forest and grassland, without revealing where the architecture starts and ends. It is an art center without boundaries—emblematic of this unique institution’s vision for contemporary art.
Central to the design is the merging of architecture and landscape through a Z-shaped “Super-Surface”—a five-hectare landscaped expanse of trees and grasses which connects the five tanks and integrates the site’s different elements. The Super-Surface provides both aesthetic and practical benefits to its riverside context, which enjoys a 115-meter stretch of shoreline. The lush greenery creates an attractive and urgently needed parkland in a city with just 17.56% green space, contributing to ecological restoration and the return of animal life.
Flanking the south side of the plaza, an “Urban Forest” provides much desired shade and greenery to the urban residents. On the east, a grassy plaza offers open space for leisure and outdoor events, doubling as a standing area for large audiences during festivals.
Programmatically, the varied spatial configurations and flexible design allow the institution to host diverse exhibitions, performances and community activities. Despite the structural challenges of adapting the tanks, the renovation preserves many of their original industrial features, maintaining a dialogue between past and present.
In summary, Tank Shanghai adapted containers of fuel into containers of culture and life, connecting people, art, and nature. It stands as a social equalizer that attracts and generously accommodates people from all walks of life.
About OPEN:
OPEN is an architecture office that collaborates across different disciplines to practice architectural, urban, landscape, and interior design. We also research and develop design strategies in the context of unprecedented challenges facing our generation and beyond.
OPEN was founded by LI Hu and HUANG Wenjing in New York City. It established its Beijing office in 2008. Some major projects by OPEN include: Sun Tower, Shanfeng Academy, Chapel of Sound, Shanghai Qingpu Pinghe International School, UCCA Dune Art Museum, Tank Shanghai, Pingshan Performing Arts Center, Tsinghua Ocean Center, Garden School/Beijing No.4 High School Fangshan Campus, and Gehua Youth and Cultural Center.